Carlyle sells half its stake in CPIC, raising $723 million

The sale is done at a 5.2% discount and reduces Carlyle's stake in the Chinese insurer to 2.4%.

Carlyle Group has sold just over half of its remaining stake in China Pacific Insurance Group Co CPIC through a block trade, raising HK$5.61 billion $723 million.

The timing of the deal took the market by surprise. It launched at 7pm on Friday, at a time when the stock was trading below the IPO price and following a profit warning by CPIC a week earlier. But investors liked the fact that the discount...